Day by Day (T-ara song)

"Day by Day" (데이 바이 데이) is a song by South Korean girl group T-ara from the EP of the same name, released on 3 July 2012 as its lead single. It was composed by Kim Tae-hyun and produced by Cho Young-soo and Ahn Young-min. This was T-ara's first song featuring new member Areum and the last with Ryu Hwa-young.^[1]

"Day by Day"
Japanese digital cover
Single by T-ara
from the EP Day by Day
Released	3 July 2012 26 November 2012 (JP)
Genre	K-pop
Length	3:28
Label	Core Contents Media, EMI Music Japan
Composer(s)	Kim Tae-hyun, Cho Young-soo
Lyricist(s)	Kim Tae-hyun, Cho Young-soo, Ahn Young-min, K-Smith Makiko (JP)
T-ara singles chronology
"Lovey Dovey" (2012) "Day by Day" (2012) "Sexy Love" (2012)

Background and release

"Day by Day" was the product of Kim Tae-Hyun, by Cho Young-soo and Ahn Young-min, who have all previously worked with T-ara on songs such as "Cry Cry" and "You Drive Me Crazy". Before its official release, a choreography video in which "Day by Day" can be heard was leaked to YouTube in late May 2012.^[2] The song is a ballad with a flute beat, with lyrics about a girl pleadingly begging a boy to take her with him. The choreography was made by John Temorning who choreographed Beyoncé's "Single Lady".^[3]

On 30 July 2012, Kim Kwang-Soo, Core Contents Media's representative, issued a statement that Ryu Hwa-young would unconditionally terminate her contract and quit T-ara. This incident and the previous rumors of incompatibility between the group's members caused pressure from the public and led to ending the promotion schedule of "Day by Day" early, and therefore the Inkigayo performance (aired on 29 July) marked the end of the promotion period. Hwa-Young didn't perform on stage for that performance due to an alleged foot injury. Since Hwa-Young's withdrawal was sudden, members Hyo-Min and Eun-Jung who coverf her rap parts, had to read lyrics from staff's sign on stage.^[4]

Japanese version

"Day by Day" received a Japanese version and was released as a b-side track on T-ara's 10th Japanese single "Sexy Love" along with an instrumental version on 26 November 2012. It also had another music video released only on Japanese streaming platforms which consists of different shots from the original Korean music videos.^[5] It was also released as a stand-alone single in Japan along with "Sexy Love" (Japanese Ver.) with a different cover but it is only available digitally.

Commercial performance

"Day by Day" topped all Korean real-time charts within an hour of release and achieved T-ara's sixth "all-kill". It reached number two on the Gaon Weekly Digital Singles Chart^[6] and the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100.^[7] The song ranked among the best selling singles of the year with nearly 2,150,000 copies sold in South Korea alone by the end of 2012.^[8] The Japanese version of "Day by Day" peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 singles chart and reached number 3 on the USEN Weekly singles chart.

Music videos

The song's music video was officially released on 3 July. It was directed by Cha Eun-taek in Seoul.^[9] It was announced on 12 June 2012, as a 20-minute music video drama starring the group themselves in a science-fiction setting, reminiscent of the movie Mad Max.^[10][11] A large amount of work was needed to complete the computer graphics featured in the video, which caused its release to be delayed by 13 hours.^[12] The second part of the music video was released in August 2012. The video featured T-ara members with the participation of Dani, who was preparing for her debut with the group at the time, "Day By Day" was supposed to be her pre-debut. However, plans fell through and she never officially debuted with the group. Dani portrayed "the blind girl with superpowers" in the music video, she was then replaced by Eun-jung in the second part of the drama version (Sexy Love). The music video was included in the Top 5 Videos of the Week list by Stereogum.^[13]

Track listing

Japanese ver. (physical single)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Sexy Love (Japanese ver.)"	Shoko Fujibayashi	Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-sung
2.	"Day by Day (Japanese ver.)"	Makiko	Cho Young-soo, Kim Tae-hyun
3.	"Sexy Love (Japanese ver./Inst.)"		Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-sung
4.	"Day by Day (Japanese ver./Inst.)"		Cho Young-soo, Kim Tae-hyun

Japanese ver. (digital single)

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Day by Day (Japanese Ver.)"	Makiko	Cho Young-soo, Kim Tae-hyun
2.	"Sexy Love"	Shoko Fujibayashi	Shinsadong Tiger, Choi Kyu-sung

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Japan (Japan Hot 100)	16
South Korea (Gaon)	2
South Korea (K-pop Hot 100)	2

Sales

Region	Sales
South Korea (digital)	2,150,000

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
Worldwide	3 July 2012	Digital download	Core Contents Media LOEN Entertainment
South Korea
Japan	26 November 2012		EMI Music Japan

References

1. "티아라 아름, 알고보니 과수석… '청순 외모+노래 실력'". sports.donga.com (in Korean). 13 June 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
2. "티아라 신곡 음원-안무, 불법 유출! "국제 소송 방침" 강경대응 :: 네이버 뉴스". Sports Chosun. 24 May 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
3. 천지일보. "티아라 데이바이데이, 폭발적 반응… 음악차트 1위 석권". 천지일보 - 새 시대 희망언론 (in Korean). Retrieved 5 November 2022.
4. "티아라에서 쫓겨난 화영 사과, "이제 그만 멈춰달라"". 헤드라인제주 (in Korean). 1 August 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
5. "Sexy Love(Japanese ver.) | T-ARA". Oricon News. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
6. . Gaon (in Korean). Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
7. "Korea K-Pop Hot 100 Music Chart Billboard.com (Week of July 21, 2012)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 July 2012.
8. . 4 February 2015. Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
9. "The 5 Best Videos Of The Week". Stereogum. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
10. "티아라, 7월 3일 컴백…8번째 멤버 아름 합류 : 네이트 뉴스". Cookie News. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
11. "티아라 새 뮤비, 효민-다니 첫 스틸 공개 '강렬한 빨간머리' : 네이트 뉴스". Star News. 15 June 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
12. "티아라 DAY BY DAY 뮤비 음원 공개 13시간 급연기 왜? : 네이트 뉴스". Newsen. 2 July 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2012.
13. "The 5 Best Videos Of The Week". Stereogum. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 5 November 2022.

External links

• Sexy Love (Japanese Ver.). Oricon